BLACK­BERRY & THYME/ LEMON CURD & FEN­NEL SCONES

SERVES 12-15 small scones These lit­tle scones are de­li­cious! I’ve added a savoury twist by adding thyme and fen­nel, both of which go beau­ti­fully with black­berry jam and lemon curd re­spec­tively.

2½ cups plain flour

3 tsp bak­ing pow­der

½ tsp salt

1 tbsp su­gar (op­tional, if you want slightly sweet scones)

55g cold but­ter

250ml milk

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves

1 tsp fen­nel seeds

1 egg, lightly beaten with

a dash of milk

Black­berry jam, lemon curd

and whipped cream, to serve

1 Pre­heat oven to 210°C.

Flour or line a bak­ing tray.

2 Sift the dry in­gre­di­ents into a big bowl, then grate in the but­ter.

3 Mix briefly with your hands, then add the milk. Mix us­ing a but­ter knife un­til you have a soft, sticky dough.

4 Turn onto a well-floured board, halve and knead each half very lightly, adding thyme to one por­tion and fen­nel to the other, un­til the dough comes to­gether. Roll or press out each half to 2cm thick.

5 Use a small cookie cut­ter or thin-rimmed glass to cut into rounds. Place on a bak­ing tray and brush with the egg and milk wash.

6 Bake near the top of the hot oven for 15 min­utes or un­til golden brown and well risen. Cool on a wire rack be­fore top­ping or fill­ing with the black­berry jam or lemon curd and whipped cream.